Friday 1st April:
Official course start date

Work your way through our pre-seen materials as follows:

• Pre-seen analysis videos
• Strategic analysis videos
• Top 10 issues video
• Industry pack video

Read through the industry analysis pack steadily over the next few weeks. It’s mostly background reading to build industry knowledge. However it would be useful to learn some industry examples prior to your first mock exam so you can start to include some in your answers. Post your questions about the pre-seen on our MCS Yammer group – our MCS tutor will aim to respond within 1 working day.

Saturday 9th April:

Attend masterclass 1

This will recap the key learnings to date and give you a chance to ask questions and meet other students. Asking questions is key, please do take the opportunity to clarify any issues you currently have.

Watch the full recording if you are unable to attend on the day.

Sunday 10th April- Wednesday 13th April:
Exam technique

Go through the exam technique series to learn what it takes to pass this exam. During this stage, make sure to undertake the writing and planning exercises too. This is the most important part of the week – the exercises start to ingrain good exam technique that watching videos alone will never do! Post questions on our course forum. It’s crucial that you clarify any areas of confusion at this early stage.

Tuesday 12th April:
Your MCS marker will be assigned

On, or before, this day, an email will be sent out to you with details regarding the assigning of your marker. They’ll be there to support you through the next few weeks of your studies.

Thursday 14th April – Wednesday 20th April:
Theory and the Case Study exam

The theory week – work with the theory revision series.

The theory revision series is a set of texts and videos that contain all of the key information from our E2, F2 and P2 texts. This series particularly focuses on those areas most relevant to the Case Study, saving you time and helping you focus on application to the pre-seen.

You’re unlikely to be able to revise everything prior to your exam, so the key this week is to identify the topics you feel you most need to review. 

Aim to go through other sections of the theory revision series over the next few weeks, recapping key areas of theory and focusing on any areas of weakness that come out of the mock exams.

Note, the theory isn’t where your main study time should be spent so don’t excessively focus on this area.

Saturday 23rd April:
Attend masterclass 2

This will recap the key learnings to date in the videos and give you a chance to ask questions and meet other students. Asking questions is key, please do take the opportunity to clarify any issues you currently have.

Watch the full recording if you are unable to attend on the day.

Sunday 24th April:
Mock 1 deadline 

Mock 1 deadline – complete mock exam 1 and send to your marker.

It is vital that even at this early stage you complete this in the allocated time.

Time management is a key challenge in this exam and you need to learn to work quickly early on in the process – you won’t suddenly speed up in the last week!

Don’t be tempted to read any solutions before the exam – make it a real exam test – that’s the best way to learn. 

Monday 25th April – Wednesday 27th April:
Ethics

Ethics is THE MOST COMMONLY EXAMINED TOPIC in this exam. You must master this subject if you are going to pass.

Watch the video and then practise 5-6 questions.

Use the remaining questions as practise over the next few weeks whenever you get a chance.

Thursday 28th April – Saturday 30th April:
Review mock feedback

Reviewing the feedback on your exams is probably the most important thing you’ll do during this course. And yet, many people ignore this crucial step.

Review mock 1 feedback when returned by marker and create a list of the key points you will commit to improve on prior to the next mock.

Study our mock 1 solutions so you can pick up key learning points. Review any theory that was a clear weakness.

Re-write sections of mock 1 that you did poorly on applying the feedback given. This is crucial and often ignored. It’s practise that improves, not just reading or watching videos. The act of redoing those sections and applying feedback will make a huge difference in your next mock. 

This is an ideal time to use our dedicated business, leadership, people and technical competency textbooks to brush up on your weaker areas.